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London, Scotland & Ireland - Itinerary Ideas

Hello! My friend and I are looking into visiting from the US in late August/early September of this year. We are European "Virgins", 20 & 23. We are looking to visit London, Scotland & Ireland for roughly 2 weeks or so. We both work for Marriott hotels, and are able to recieve a significant rate discount if available. We are open for anything just want to see the sights, and nightlife of course. We are not interested in Group "Escorted" Tours at all that can bundle the 3 places in one big trip, although sounds nice - just isn't our cup of tea. Below is what I am constructing for a rough itinerary as far as location/hotel - any additions, thoughts & tips, sights we have to see, would be greatly appreciated! I am mostly concerned about how to get one place to another. I am mostly focusing on getting hotels that are in the city bustle so we can walk - I'd imagine?
The Shelbourne Dublin, A Renaissance Hotel (159 EURO) for 4 Nights
London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square (155 BP) 4 Nights
Glasgow Marriott Hotel (77 BP) 4 Nights

Do you have any suggestions as to go in a different order, or length for some places?

Am interested why you are heading to Glasgow. IMHO the obvious place to go in Scotland in Edinburgh if you have just one choice. Is there someting you really want to do/see in Glasgow.

IMHO you should fly into Dublin, fly to London, then train to Edinburgh and fly back to the US from Scotland.

I would definitely take a day trip from Dublin to see part of the countryside. Where you should go depends on your interests. We did Newgrange ( a prehistoric site) but there are a bunch of places you can visit from natural sights to manor houses. Also you will have time for at lest one day trip in Scotland. Four nights in London is barely enough to touch on the major sights.

Glasgow is great, but as it is your first trip you should split your time between Edinburgh and Glasgow; they are very close together so it is easily done. Train between London and Scotland and yes Edinburgh and Glasgow are easily walkable and download a tube map now for London.

London is nearly the size of NYC. It has 7.7 million people and is the largest city in Western Europe and the next closest city (Paris) is less than 1/2 as populated. Therefore you will NOT find a place in London that is walkable to every site you want to see. You won't walk to the Tower or St Paul's from Grosvenor Square. Dublin and Edinburgh are far smaller. Do not underestimate its size.

Considering the sights and sizes, London 5, Edinburgh 4 and Dublin 3 is reasonable for starters.

Note the Olympic dates: 27 July to 12 August; and the Paralympics are 29 August to 9 September. Avoid London without question during the former.

As low 20-somethings, do you really want to pay those prices in London and Dublin (unless they are totals)? In Dublin, 159E is about $200; in London, 155 quid is pushing $240.

And stay in Edinburgh, not Glasgow. First of all, you can day-trip to Glasgow, although it'd be lower on my list than Perth (for Scone Palace) or Stirling (for Stirling Castle). Edinburgh is one of the great cities of Europe; Glasgow's the largest city in Scotland but it's not the preeminent one.

Second, August is FESTIVAL MONTH in Edinburgh in which the city swells to three times its normal size with visitors who come to see the various festivals (see here: http://www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk/festivals). If you want to go in August, get your situation straight asap. As 20-somethings at the Festivals, you should have a blast.

"Note the Olympic dates: 27 July to 12 August; and the Paralympics are 29 August to 9 September. Avoid London without question during the former."

I agree w/ BigRuss about the crowds in Edinburgh during August. But from all reports,crowds in London will be smaller than normal during the Olympics. Hotel pre-booking is waaaaay below normal levels, and even some theatres will be cutting performances because tourist numbers will be down. London is so large it absorbs any sort special event w/o missing a beat (Wimbledon for instance doesn't at all affect tourism in central London). Hotel room rates have been jacked up for the Olympics period - but my guess they will back down since occupancy numbers just aren't getting there.